I've decided to make a "Baker's Oven" style tent out of SOL emergency blankets. After quite a bit of testing and futzing around I came up with the dimensions that I think will work well for solo use (for me) and lend itself well to the dimensions of those blankets.

The design will take 4 of the blankets to make the tent. The blankets only weigh about 2.5 oz each. I'll also use a 80"x64" ground sheet made from something else, so I'm guessing that all together it will weigh around 1.5 lbs, maybe 2lbs with stakes and guy lines.

Because it's a "Baker's" style tent, and made from the SOL blankets, it will work like a "Super Shelter" and warm right up with a small campfire in front of it, and because it's small it should also heat up some with just your body heat.

In the mock-ups I've done the interior dimensions feel a lot more comfortable than a bivy tent like the eureka solo solitaire tent I had. There's room to sit up without hitting my head. The back wall is high enough to give me some elbow room, and I can store some gear in there with me. Since it's for winter use here I won't be adding any bug net for the front opening. I'll pull down the awning to close it up at bedtime. The awning is longer than the opening is tall, so I can pin it down at an angle for some extra room and ventilation, or pull it in and close it up to be warmer.

I realized while playing with this material that you can see through it, which adds something new. It acts like a two way mirror, you can't see in, but you can see out. I suppose if you had a light on inside you might be able to see in, but I haven't tested that yet. It should be nice to see the moon and things lit up by it while inside the tent.

I've found the Baker's Tent design to be pretty comfortable and useful, and easy to set up. I haven't seen one for sale that's designed for solo use yet, but the MSR Fast Stash is a pretty cool two person tent based on it:

Here are the dimensions I'll be using:

And mine will look more like this

I'm going to try and get enough blankets tomorrow to make it, that's hit or miss around here but if I can get them I should be able to test it out this weekend.

Great planning here. I've considered things like this too. I do have a question... Is this a winter set-up? You mentioned the fire and body heat warming it up. I just can't imagine going without bug netting while the bugs are out. I've spent too many Ozark nights swatting flies off my ears. LOL

How are the edges going to be attached? Glue?

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I always forget and make it more complicated than it needs to be...it's just walking.

Yeah, this tent is just for winter. You have to come here in the winter one of these days, it's sweet when the daytime highs are above 50º.

I'l be taping the seams with 3M clear 2" duct tape and the edges with 1" strapping tape. Both kinds of tape are fiber reinforced.

I also have some adhesive nylon called "Bondex Outdoor Restore" I got at Walmart in the sewing section. It's made to repair tents, jackets, etc. It's pretty strong stuff. I'll use it where I put grommets to pin it down and tie it off.

I got the four blankets this morning. Bass Pro had just stocked the shelf with them so I got lucky They were $4.50 each.

As far as sticks go, I guess I'll just have to strap a big bundle to my backpack

I thought long and hard about the bug net. I decided that because this is for winter use, and there are no bugs out here then, it just didn't make sense.

I've found the Baker's Tent design to be pretty comfortable and useful, and easy to set up.

I think that's because they are yet one more thing you can do with a big rectangular tarp, and no manufacturer saw a reason to spend time on it. I messed with them in my early Walmart blue tarp days as quicky shelter to get out of the sun and rain. It's an old design going back hundreds of years and requires a lot of cloth. I pitched mine where the "porch" would become the front, like your supershelter, but I never messed with a floor. I'm curious how yours turns out and how durable it is.

If you really want a baker for winter, you're better off with bedsheets or light canvas - then the fire isn't going to melt enormous big holes in it with sparks and embers, and you can have a decent fire near it.. To get the reflective effect then just hang a reflective space blanket inside the tent behind you to reflect onto your backside.

I've played with the design for a bit now. I've made a couple 10'x10' tarps out of visqueen and hung the mylar blankets inside it and made a fire in front of it. The design works really well to capture heat, and the reflective surface does improve that.

I'm not worried about burn holes though. I build small fires and burn sticks, not logs, and they don't pop as much or as hard. They don't pop off big embers, or even pop off little ones very far. But I think when you start fiddling with campfire tent designs you have take into account that you may get some burn holes no matter what you make it out of. When I do get a hole in it I'll repair them with duct tape.

The polyethylene the SOL blankets are made of doesn't burn well, so it's not a bad choice of materials in that regard, and it is a lot more durable than the mylar sheets.

One thing that does bother me about the SOL blankets is that the shiny coating rubs off easily. The shine on the mylar doesn't. I have no idea if that stuff is toxic, but I suspect it probably isn't good for you. On the plus side, I won't be touching it much.

More than anything though, I'm doing this for fun. I like the design for several reasons and want to see if I can optimize it for my style of camping. It has a small footprint and I can set it up almost anyplace here I can find a flat spot that size. I won't need any poles or sticks because I can tie it off to trees, even small ones, and use stakes to pin it down. If I do want to bring poles, I won't need very many feet of them and I can configure them to break down pretty short and packable.

Others have built tents using this material. And others have built Baker's Tents and lined them with it. What I haven't seen is a solo Baker's tent made with this material, or a solo Baker's tent period. The closest thing I've seen is that MSR Fast Stash.

I'm not sure why that is, the design is probably older than anyone knows, but I have not found a single example of a solo Baker's tent. My design is probably bigger than it needs to be, but making the smallest possible, or even smallest practical, is not my goal. I want one that's smaller and comfortable.

I may not like it. I've made or bought stuff before that I thought would work well for me and ended up not liking it. The thing is, here in the Ozarks, a lightweight solo campfire tent really has a lot of potential. Not sales potential, hardly anyone backpacks here in the winter, but practical use potential. We'll see how it goes...

BillTheres a wonderful diarama at the High Desert Museum here with a Baker tent and a cowboy sittin in front of it with a camp fire. The point being that there are no real new tent designs, only rehashes of old ones with new materials.Jim

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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.

BillTheres a wonderful diarama at the High Desert Museum here with a Baker tent and a cowboy sittin in front of it with a camp fire. The point being that there are no real new tent designs, only rehashes of old ones with new materials.Jim

A tie dyed one would be awesome!

I'll play with this one for a bit, see if I want to make any changes, and if I really like it I might make one out of old bedsheets. It'd be a great practice run for stitching one up.

I am curious to see how this plastic holds up. It stretches pretty easy, but it doesn't tear. Hard to say how it will hold up under real use.

phatwould canvas waterproofer be the best? How much weight would it add? It might strengthen the cotton sheet so that it might not stretch as much and might stand up to a wind.

I want a tie dyed tarp tent and I have the dye.Jim

I think regular cavas waterproofer would work well, Of course you'd need to make sure you had some angle on the tarp when set up, (you couldn't have a big sag in the middle like you can get away with with silnylon) and I know from some research that high thread count sheets will work better. I've also heard to pre-wash them on boil to shrink good first, then do it.

I'm actually kind of looking at this because I may make myself an oilcloth tarp - Someone was giving me a pile of poop about modern materiels while I said it didn't matter, it was all about skills and staying minimalist, and they more or less dared me to do without.. I'm contemplating doing west coast trail with no nylon and no plastics - supa old school (I have most of the stuff I'd need to do this anyway)

So the alternative would be oilcloth style, basically, linseed oil, wax, and turpentine - but that will make it brown and wreck the tie die effect, so what I'd do is:

1) Some high thread count cotton sheets. 2) Wash on ultra boil hot3) Tie Die, dry4) Sew a seam, and grommets or loops5) Good old canvas tent proof (Nikwax sells one for canvas)

As long as you don't set it up like a complete tyro, it'll keep you dry.

I read on a forum discussing Baker's Tents that Thompson's Water Seal will work. They said to treat it every few years (or as needed).

It'd be easy enough to test it.

I think many similar such things will work fine. the real trick here as opposed to silnylon is that it is not as strong, and you have to be sure to dry it out real good after, and may need to re-proof more often - you also can't be next to it touching it and expect not to get we in a downpour..

Theres a wonderful diarama at the High Desert Museum here with a Baker tent and a cowboy sittin in front of it with a camp fire. The point being that there are no real new tent designs, only rehashes of old ones with new materials.

There's something about that scene that's iconic. You can just feel being there when you see it. I'm guessing he's got a pot of beans hanging from a tripod too

This project is absolutely a rehash with new materials. The material isn't well suited for tents. Just a light snag on a branch will poke holes in it, and stretch it, and those are important defects. But it is an interesting experiment that should highlight the potential of the positive characteristics of the material and the design.

So much gear is designed for backpacking out west that a campfire tent has become a long forgotten option. No one makes one for backpacking now. So, while this project doesn't represent anything truly new, it does demonstrate a potentially new option to consider. Where you can use it safely, a lightweight campfire tent would be a great thing to have. I don't think mine can truly be called a "Solo" tent though. It's more the size of a intimate two person

I got the tent mostly finished last night. I have a few more things I want to do before I set it up.

It's pretty windy here today, but should calm down later, so I might go down to the hollow below our house and set it up there and gather some sticks for a campfire tonight. It's supposed to get down to 31º by 6:00 pm here, so it will be plenty cold enough to test it for warmth with, and without, a campfire.

I'd rather wait to test it in strong wind until after I get a chance to test it for other things, like the size, warmth, condensation, ease of setup/breakdown, and packing.

I already know the design is pretty sucky when it comes to withstanding wind. I decided to extend the awning even more, making it 55" long instead of 44" because of that. I'm hoping that the extended awning pinned down at an angle will help it do better, but I don't want to see it get blown away and shredded before I get a chance to test the other stuff.

I got the tent setup down in the hollow below our place late this afternoon. I'm going down there in a bit and light the fire and see how it works. I have a little thermometer I'll bring with me.

It's roomy inside, definitely a big "Solo" tent. I ended up raising the roof by 2" and I'm glad I did. I can sit up in the center of the tent and I still have some headroom. And I made it 2" wider too. So the front opening is 44" high and 82" wide. The floor is 40"x82" and the back wall is 30" tall. I sewed some 3/4" nylon webbing hoops to hold the poles or use for stakes and tie off points.

I used some old tent poles from a cheap dome tent to set it up, but I'll probably just tie the roof to trees and stake the floor when I'm backpacking.

Here are a few pics of it.

This one shows the awning set up:

This is the back side:

Side view:

Front view with awning closed for sleeping:

Below is the "Campfire Mode". The awning is laid back on the roof, and the visqueen sheet is down to retain heat inside the tent. I think "Baker's Oven" is a good name for this tent :

And this is opened up with both the awning and visqueen laid back over the roof. This might work good to keep you cool in the hot sun. The reflective side of the awning is up and covers the entire roof, so it should reflect the heat pretty good:

I will be interested in hearing how this tent holds up. It might be especially good for someone who plans to fly some distance to or from a trail head. It could be left in a hiker box if one is available or just tossed, as could a soda can stove, etc.

I will also be interested in knowing whether or not you find you need some sort of vent to allow water vapro to escape.

You may have better insulation from the sun if you form some sort of air space between the flipped-back awning and the tent body.

Bill, I think thompsons water seal would work excellent. Thompsons has allot of wax in it already!Phat mentioned oil cloth. I cam across a interesting gun stock finish that uses true oil and Armour all Protectant. True Oil is basically a Linsead oil gunstock finish. The AA acts as a Catalyst and makes the linsead oil dry in about ten minutes. Another trick I do with Linsead oil is mix 3 parts Linsead to one part shelac. This too acts to catalise the linsead very fast drys in minutes> Might work for what you are doing? Good Luck, Cant wait to see pictures of the tye Dyed hippi tents!

Thompson's works fine. Put it in a pump sprayer and have at it. Wear a respirator or at least a face mask....the stuff is very volatile.

I'm curious how yours stands up to wind and especially rain. With your ground cover extending beyond the tent footprint, you'll get puddles inside. Might consider 'bath tubbing' the cover to the inside of tent walls. The ones I made from tarps, caught the wind and had to be staked down really well. They were roomy, that's for sure.

I went down last night about 7:30 and started my fire. It was about 32º, and the temp stayed steady till I came back to the house just after midnight.

I'll start by saying the tent truly exceeded my expectations as a "Campfire Tent". The temp inside got close to 90º when the radiant heat from the campfire was at it's peak (which, interestingly, was not when the flames were the biggest, but shortly after that). I sat inside with no coat, just my long sleeve shirt and insulated pants, and could have been in summer shorts. I had a piece of single bubble foil insulation on the ground and I laid down on that using my jacket for a pillow and was perfectly comfortable.

When it got too warm I just slid the visqueen sheet open a little at the sides near the floor and I could regulate the temp inside in just seconds doing that.

I tested the tent with the visqueen laid over the roof, so the front was completely open, and with the fire going good it was comfortable inside but the temp varied a lot as the warm/cold air was quickly exchanged. It was still really nice in there like that though, and it would be perfect for when you're relaxing with a hot beverage and one of Phat's premium cigars

I also tested it with the awning closed while the fire was going and it didn't seem to warm up near as much. I need to test that some more to confirm that it was blocking the heat because I should have let the fire build up a little more to make a solid conclusion, but I got cold so I folded the awning back and even though the fire built up some in just the few seconds it took me to do that, the difference in how much heat got through seemed much greater than just that of the fire's intensity.

The ground sheet I used was from a previous project. The bubble foil I used inside the tent worked great and I'll use that or a piece of visqueen cut to size, and yes, I'll probably make a "bathtub" with it that attaches to the tent walls with a peg and hoop. Right now, the ground sheet in the pics weighs more than the tent. It's made from 3 mil visqueen and it probably weighs as much per square foot as the bubble foil. The bubble foil can be folded and packed like a CCF pad is inside a frameless pack (to expand the pack), and it weighs less than a CCF pad per sq ft., so it's actually a pretty good option in this case since it's used as both a ground sheet and an insulating pad.

While making this I came up with lots of small details and features that could be added, but I resisted the urge to add them right off the bat, opting instead to keep it as simple as possible. The awning was the only thing I added and that's because I think it will help keep it warmer inside when no fire is being used. I'm not sure it will though. The tent is pretty big inside and I think there is just too much wall and ceiling space to dissipate heat with just one person inside. I'm pretty sure it would heat up with two or three adults sitting inside, but not just one. I will test it though, and make sure.

Another big plus I realized last night happened after I spilt an ounce or so of beer on the floor inside the tent (I know, I know ). I wiped it up with a fleece jacket I had in there, and then set the wet spot on the jacket towards the fire and it dried completely in just a few minutes (still smells like dirty beer though )

As it stands, I have to say that if you backpack where you can have a campfire, you really should consider making one of these and trying it out. It is absolutely wonderful to sit inside and soak up the warmth from the fire. It is a pleasure and a real luxury to crawl into a warm sleeping bag, and done right, to get up for your morning pee and toss a bunch of sticks on the coals and crawl back into your bag and wait for it to warm up before getting up and started. It only costs about $25 and a few hours time to make one of these and when you're done you have a perfect excuse to get out again. Shoot, there's been times I'd've paid twice that just for the excuse

I'll go back down there and pack it up in a bit and try to weigh it accurately, and I'll post the packed size and weight asap.

Hey, good stuff! I think I would have spent more time on the 'beer test' part. I wonder if you scaled it all down a tad, and made the tent from silnylon, space blanket for a reflector, would heat pass through the thin nylon as well as the plastic?

Bill It sounds like your pleased? Well now this is all well and good but I must reprimand. Spilling of ones beer is absolutly unacceptable, down right beer abuse. I would be afraid to sleep in one two close to the fire. I slept cowboy style 2 feet from a fire when I was a kid! I figure if I didnt burn up I better count my blessings! Good luck with future test!

I played a bit with using stick-on velcro buttons to attach mylar emergency blankets to a visqueen tarp set up like a Baker's tent and that works pretty good. I'm sure it'd work with a nylon tarp too. I think you could use a nylon front panel, like I did with the visqueen and it would work just as well, the radiant heat should pass right through it. But with the visqueen you can be sitting inside and watching the fire burn and that's pretty nice.

This Baker's tent is a lot smaller than the one I made with a 10'x10' tarp, but it's still a lot bigger than it needs to be for solo use. I think a smaller one is worth trying out. I also wonder if it'd be worth it to try and glue mylar to a nylon tarp. That 3M spray glue is pretty amazing stuff. Or, you might mix up some silicone solution and wet out the nylon with it then use a squeegee to spread the mylar out over it wrinkle and bubble free. and then let it cure. Either of those laminating processes should make the nylon water resistant. It won't breath anymore though, so the real advantage would be durability. You'll be trading that for weight savings, but my guess is that it'd be worth it. I fully expect the tent I've made to get beat up pretty fast. That plastic is going to get snagged and punctured, I just don't think it's avoidable.

It really is an amazing way to demonstrate radiant heat. You can sit outside right up close to the fire and feel the heat in front of you, but when you get inside the tent and drop that visqueen you feel the heat all around you and it warms you deep inside. If you touch any of the panels they are cool, (even the front panel was cool to the touch) but if you move your hand an inch away you can feel the heat instantly. If you hold your opened hand near the back wall, palm towards the fire, the back of your hand is as warm as the front.

While I'm sure it could be improved, this simple design seems to be very efficient for the purpose. Five of the six surfaces on the tent are reflective and direct the heat inside the tent. The two roof panels reflect it down, towards the floor where it needs it most and the large front surface allows a lot of radiant heat in.

I was going to pack the tent last night but my neighbor called and told me he'd meet me down there to check it out. He was honestly amazed. We built a fire and kept it going for a couple hours and when we had a good bed of coals built up we let the fire die and sat inside for over an hour still getting warmed by the coals (and testing beer ).

We have a chance of rain showers in the forecast tonight so I might leave it up to see how wet it gets inside.

BTW, I want to thank all of your for your interest, suggestions, and encouragement. This has been a fun little project and it's been great to have all of you to bounce it around and learn from. I'm definitely going to keep playing with the concept.

================================For the posterity of the thread, I want to point out that here in the Ozarks, when and where I did this, the Fire Weather Risk Level Forecast was "NONE".

was going to pack the tent last night but my neighbor called and told me he'd meet me down there to check it out. He was honestly amazed. We built a fire and kept it going for a couple hours and when we had a good bed of coals built up we let the fire die and sat inside for over an hour still getting warmed by the coals (and testing beer ).

I get it. This isn't about backpacking or tents at all! It's Bill's excuse to build a "MAN CAVE"! (seems to have worked!)